To reduce power consumption (and extend battery life), portable wireless devices (such as, but not limited to, laptops, netbooks, tablet computers, and the like) may toggle between an active-power state (for example the S0 state according to the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification) and a low-power state (also known as a standby mode, sleep mode, suspend mode, or the like). When switched to the low-power state (also known as S3 mode according to the ACPI specification), power consumption is reduced by reducing and/or eliminating power to all unneeded portions of the platform and devices. In many situations it is desirable for one or more applications/services executing on the portable wireless device to maintain connectivity and presence so that the platform or end-user can always be reached.
One approach to maintain connection and presence with an application server involves periodically transitioning the platform from the standby mode to the active mode so that the platform may transmit presence data to the application server and/or receive any other data. Unfortunately, this approach requires a significant amount of energy as the entire platform is toggled between standby and active modes. Additionally, the periodic toggling between standby and active modes may have a negative impact on reliability of the standby-to-active transition. While technologies such as Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN) have low power consumption, WoWLAN only maintains the data link (L2 link layer) connectivity to the local access point. As such, WoWLAN cannot maintain connectivity and presence to an application server.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims.